A Most Dangerous Tribe
by FreeWrite
Summary: "Behind every successful woman, is a tribe of other successful women that have her back." Unknown. Five successful women who had Emily Prentiss' back.
1. Nothing I wouldn't do - Kerry Weaver

Title: A Most Dangerous Tribe

Author: FreeWrite

Disclaimer: I do not own the following shows or any characters related to them Criminal Minds, ER, The West Wing, NCIS: LA, Stargate: SG1 or The Librarians. I am having an absolute blast playing with them and I promise to earn no money while doing so.

Summary: "Behind every successful woman, is a tribe of other successful women that have her back." Unknown. Five successful women who had Emily Prentiss' back.

AN: I've been working on this on and off since finishing 'The Heroine' it started with Sam Carter and slowly grew from there… I love crossovers, the potential is limitless. You don't need to read them all but all five of the one shots are loosely connected and there are references from one to another. Finally I'm publishing this in the CM section simply because this site doesn't allow for 5 different fandoms in one story.

OMG... I wrote an Emily fic without babies... the sky is falling!

This story is complete and is a total of 5 chapters long.

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Kerry Weaver - ER

"There is nothing I wouldn't do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature ." Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

October 2002

Emily... Lauren... well both of them enjoyed Halloween... come as you aren't.

This particular year was not her best. Emily Prentiss was no where to be found, instead Lauren Reynolds was running around the world with Ian Doyle. Buying and selling weapons to fund the lavish lifestyle they both enjoyed. Despite being in the states she wouldn't get to celebrate.

This particularly chilly October 30th they were in Chicago of all places meeting with a seller who had claimed he could get his hands on SAM's. Neither Emily nor Ian had much hope that it could be true but they went anyway and found themselves in the middle of a completely unrelated gang war.

Most of their team walked away with nothing more that scrapes and bruises, Emily on the other hand had been in the wrong place when a stray bullet hit something and had pieces of shrapnel embedded in the back of her hip.

She was adamant is wasn't her ass... it was her hip.

"This is beyond me love..." Ian frowned as he eased her pants down and studied the wounds "There's crap all through here, you'll need stitches and I don't have any contacts here that could get you medical treatment."

"I know a Doc..." she sucked her breath through her nose trying to breathe through the pain "Drop me near County General..."

"The hospital?" Ian was skeptical, they avoided hospitals if at all possible.

"Yeah... they'll take care of me and you know... French passport, pay in cash... It'll be fine. Even if they call the cops I can spin a good enough story about a tourist being mugged." she really was in quite a bit of pain and lying through her teeth but Ian didn't need to know that.

15 Minutes later Liam pulled the car to a stop around the corner from County General's ER. She'd lost more blood than any of them liked and was quite woozy. Emily waited until the car was out of sight before slowly making her way into the ambulance bay. Once she was in sight of the ER doors she pulled out her cell phone and dialled a number from memory.

"Epsilon Pi 6362191... Nadine Voilé, Cook County General, Chicago. I'm in the ambulance bay and could really use a Doc." she whispered her vision starting to tunnel as she leaned against the wall one hand holding the phone to her ear the other holding a blood soaked shirt to her wounds.

"Acknowledged..." an emotionless voice echoed through "hold..." less than 30 seconds passed before the voice came back "medical assistance on it's way. Code phrase 'an old friend from home.'"

That was good, that meant there was someone on staff with enough clearance to protect her identity.

As the line went dead the doors opened and a very familiar face exited the doors and Emily felt a wave of relief wash over her as the woman leaned back inside the doors to yell something.

Deleting the call then dropping the phone into her pocket she thought about pushing off the wall and attempting to meet Kerry half way but it was taking everything she had to stay conscious.

Kerry Weaver had patched her up more often than either of them liked.

"An old friend from home my ass" Kerry took in the blood pooling at Emily's feet "What the hell have you done to yourself now?" she wrapped a deceptively strong arm around Emily's waist and somehow managed to hold the taller woman upright as a nurse ran towards them.

"Your ass? I've got shrapnel in mine!" Emily gritted out.

"Malik, get her into one of the trauma rooms. I don't care who you have to boot out."

"Hey Malik..." uh oh "I'm Nadine..." her eyes rolled back and she passed out.

"GO!" Kerry yelled as Malik scooped Emily into his arms and headed inside yelling for a gurney Kerry on his heels.

Within minutes they had Emily hooked up to an IV, various machines and her pants cut off while Kerry examined the still bleeding wounds.

"Shit..." there was more than one entry wound "Get surgical down here..."

"I'm here..." Elizabeth Corday pushed into the room having heard the ruckus from the other room "What have we got?"

"Female... early to mid thirties... shrapnel lodged in the gluteus medius... multiple entries, no exit" Kerry intoned as Elizabeth

"She's French..." Chuney pulled a passport from the inner pocket of the jacket they'd just pulled off her "Nadine Voilé" she continued going through the pockets eyes widening as she found the cash Ian had stuffed in her pocket to pay for the medical treatment.

"Make sure it's all logged correctly" Kerry's eyes flickered to the money knowing what it was for.

"And I believe it should be pronounced 'vhwahl'" Elizabeth corrected absentmindedly "French for veiled..."

"Tu parle Français?" _(You speak French?)_ as raspy pain filled voice startled them.

Everyone's eyes shot to their patient, surprised to see her awake.

"Do I speak French?" Elizabeth repeated after taking a moment to work out what she was asked "I know enough to say hello and ask where the closest pub and the loo is... how's your english?"

"Hear ok… mal speak?" Emily managed to get out... in the heaviest French accent as she could manage in her condition.

"This could get awkward" Kerry played along, she hated lying to people about their patients. Luckily she didn't have to do it often, in fact the last time this had happened it had been Emily's fault as well. The agent had turned up at her front door with a dislocated shoulder and Carter getting home just as Kerry was relocating it was tough to explain.

"Well you're lucky" Elizabeth studied the x-ray "all soft tissue damage, no major arteries hit, doesn't look like any bone or ligament damage either. I'll take you upstairs clean you out and you'll be fine."

"Pas d'anesthésie..." _(No anaesthetic)_ Emily demanded, who knew what she would say if they drugged her up too much.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand..."

"Rester éveillé" _(Stay awake)_ she tried again slowly and watched as the surgeon tried to work out what she was saying... this would be so much easier if her fake identities fake identity wasn't French. She was going to punch Jeremy in the throat next time she saw him.

"Rester... stay... éveillé... awake?... You want to stay awake?"

"Oui!" Clyde was going to get a bullet in the foot... she'd asked for Spanish but no... Jeremy knew best. Bastards.

"You French... never trusting the Brits or Yanks..." Elizabeth ranted as she continued to check the wounds "We're only removing glass, wood and metal from your backside... it's not like we're fighting a war for you... again... which we won… you're welcome" she considered the wound and the x-ray again "You know what, we can do a spinal block and get everything out down here if you want... by then my shift will be over and I won't have to see Robert again till tomorrow... what do you think?"

Despite understanding every word the British surgeon said Emily stared at the woman uncomprehendingly.

"Rester éveillé?" _(Stay awake)_ she repeated.

"Yes you can stay awake." Elizabeth turned to Chuney "Can you page anaesthesiology for me to do a spinal block?"

On the other side of the bed Kerry fought back a laugh... she'd been involved in some ridiculous things but this took the cake. An undercover CIA agent pretending to be a non-english speaking French woman while an oblivious Brit with limited French attempted to communicate. It was borderline farcical.

"Thank you for saving me from the ridiculous little troll I work for!"

Within 30 minutes Emily was happily numb from the ribs down, keeping herself occupied by profiling the staff while Kerry and the odd British Doctor pick shrapnel out of her ass... hip.

She caught the nurse who'd met her outside with Kerry giving her confused looks, but she'd seen Kerry drag him outside and she must have put the fear of herself into the young man because he hadn't said anything about her being able to speak english perfectly outside.

"Excusez-moi?" _(Excuse me?")_ she waved Chuney over.

"Sorry honey" Chuney shrugged apologetically "I have perfect Spanish and no French"

Fuck Jeremy and Clyde…

"¿Español? Yo mas Español menos ingles" _(Spanish? I more Spanish less English.)_

"Yo vivo Hendaye… niña pequeña ... frontera Francia" _(I live Hendaye… small girl... border France)_ Emily made up a story on the spot… her mother had taken her to Hendaye for a vacation when she was 13. If anyone checked they would find all the residents conversing in French and Spanish.

Chuney quickly explained to the doctors what Emily had told her.

"Yo tomo?" _(I drink?)_ Emily asked.

"Ice chips ok Dr Corday?" Chuney smiled at the relieved look at finally being understood, receiving an affirmative from the surgeon Chuney fetched a small cup and slipped a few into the grateful Emily's mouth.

Emily discovered quite quickly that the two doctors working on her were higher up on the food chain. There was a constant stream of younger men and women in and out asking for advise or direction and without breaking their stride in treating her they answered quickly, concisely and took the opportunity to teach at the same time.

She was going to cuss Kerry out something fierce when they were alone for using her ass as a teaching case.

Elizabeth held up what looked suspiciously like a bullet fragment "Nadine, can you tell Chuney what happened to you?"

"Perdí ... mira ... uh en tren ... haz un seguimiento ... ruido fuerte ... dolor de sangre, doctor de vuelta, vengo"

It took Chuney a moment to turn the purposefully bad Spanish… Elizabeth Prentiss would have a conniption if she heard her daughter speaking like that… into a comprehensible sentence.

"She got lost and was looking for the L, she heard a loud noise and then it hurt and she was bleeding. She remembered seeing the hospital sign and came back here for help."

"So what's a nice French girl like you doing in Chicago?" Kerry asked

"Abuelos viejos ... Corro Bodega pronto ... veo el mundo primero"

"She wanted to see the world before taking over her grandparents winery." Chuney smiled.

"Hacemos Cahors rojo. Envío una botella"

"She's going to send us a bottle of their Cahors Red."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up, she loved a good specialty wine. Kerry eyed her suspiciously, it wasn't nice to promise a good bottle of wine and not be able to deliver. Knowing Emily though... they were going to get a case of very good, very rare red wine in the near future.

It was another hour and a half before the final sliver of glass was picked out and the medical students had finished sticking her up.

From there they moved her into one of the curtained area's to wait for the spinal block to wear off which is when Tsia tracked her down to make sure she was ok. A hushed conversation in French resulted in the DCRI Agent leaving her in the hospital to sleep off the anaesthetic and make her way back to Doyle when she could.

She didn't sleep much, instead getting a front row view to the chaos of an inner city ER. Watching Kerry with the rest of the staff was absolutely hilarious. They had no idea who she really was... how strong, dedicated and truly loyal she was under the hard arsed bitchy facade.

Their loss.

She managed to get her cell and sent Ian a quick text assuring him she was fine and would call for a pick up when she was released.

Just before day shift started she picked an argument with a blond doctor... the Spanish broken but understandable on both sides... signed herself out AMA and handed all the cash she had over to the desk clerk.

She knew if it wasn't enough the Agency would take care of it. Some big wig would make an anonymous donation and County General would never have treated Nadine Voilé.

Once outside and out of sight of the doors she called Ian for a pick up and they went on their way.

3 months later Kerry was making her way through the ER and found Chuney and Malik staring wide eyed into a box. Seeing the Chief Chuney lifted something out and showed her a bottle of very rare and very good red wine from a small winery near Toulouse.


	2. In the Dark - Kate Harper

Kate Harper - The West Wing

"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." Helen Keller

February 2005

It was a day... and if CJ ever put her in the same room as Lord John again the Brits were going to have to replace their ambassador.

The man was an absolute nightmare and yet brilliant in his haze of alcoholic britishness.

She almost threw her cell phone away when it went off just as she stepped foot outside the gates.

Except it wasn't her official NSA phone that was ringing, it was a personal pre-paid phone that wasn't registered under any name the West Wing staff would know.

Well... Nancy probably knew but that woman knew everything.

The number was familiar, but not showing up as a contact.

"Hello?" she answered, anyone calling this number would not expect her name in the greeting.

"It's Emily, I need help."

While Kate had left the CIA years before Emily had only gone deeper. After a mission in Columbia went south in 2000 Kate had gone back to the mainstream Navy and promised Emily if she ever needed anything all she had to do is call.

"Where are you?"

"Look up..." Kate could hear it... something had finally broken Emily Prentiss. Letting her eyes flicker over her surroundings she took in the late evening foot traffic. Across the road in the shadow of a tree she stood, thin and sallow, shivering in the early February chill.

Hanging up the call Kate quickly crossed the road and greeted her friend with a strong hug.

"God it's good to see you" Emily murmured almost crying in relief at finally being with someone she could trust with this.

"I'm guessing this is a conversation you don't want overheard?" Kate pulled back and looked at her old friend. There was a deep set weariness written all over her and a sadness Kate had never seen before. Even more worrying was how thin Emily was.

"Yeah"

"You got your agency ID?" Emily nodded "Come on" Kate lead her back across the road to the gates and pulled her own ID back out.

"Kate... this really isn't a conversation for the West Wing..." Emily stuttered as she pulled out her own ID.

"You're right" Kate grinned as she got Emily signed in as her visitor "but the grounds are perfect. There's one spot in particular where we can talk and no one will disturb us."

Leading her around to the portico Kate found the bench she wanted. It seemed to be an unofficial meeting spot, nestled between the CJ's office and the oval there were marines in sight but not earshot, same with the security cameras.

Neither of them noticed CJ watch them wander down the portico.

"What do you need?" Kate's pretty sure Emily's going to ask for help getting out of the CIA.

"My last assignment..." Emily chewed her bottom lip nervously and steeled herself "Valhalla..." Kate's eyes widened she gasped in shock, she'd known there was an OP but she hadn't known it was Emily. The reports she received stated the operative had worked Valhalla for nearly 2 years. At first it had been the occasional meet up and sale, over the course of a year building trust and gaining intel. After that things got more intense, until the final brutal 6 months where Emily was with Doyle 24/7.

"I got close... too close... to a little boy, the son of Doyle's housekeeper... or so I thought." she can't even look at Kate. "I found out towards the end that he's Doyle's son. After the take down and my cover was killed I went back for them, got them out of Italy and here to the US. Declan and Louise are happy and settled but Interpol wants more on Doyle... I've given them everything but Declan... he's five years old and he deserves a chance to live. If anyone finds out about him... the things they'll do to that little boy to get his father to talk... I can't let that happen." Kate wanted to reach out and grab Emily's hand but she knew it wouldn't be received well.

Down the walk way movement caught her eye and she saw CJ glaring at her.

"It's been 6 months... I've been floating from OP to OP providing support but I'm done and I... I want out..." Emily closed her eyes against the burning pain behind them. She still felt so dirty... she'd been Lauren for too long and couldn't shake the arms dealer from her head.

"What do you need from me?" Kate knew the disconnect Emily was going through right now... the dirtiest jobs in the CIA required you to strip the most important parts of yourself away. Getting it back was a battle that had resulted in more operatives than anyone would admit diving to the bottom of a bottle or eating a gun.

"I have a plan for Declan and Louise... it'll break Ian and protect them. I can deal with that and it's better if you don't know all the details." Telling the deputy NSA that she was planning on faking their deaths and setting them up with illegal identities she purchased from a forger was a really stupid idea. "I need a background written for me... Before the agency recruited me I was looking at the FBI, thinking about trying to get into the BAU. I have the knowledge, skills and training for it I just need a Bureau work history." she looked up at Kate with dead eyes "Can you put me in touch with someone who can organise that?"

"That I can take care of no problem... give me a week and I'll call you with the details" Kate smiled gently "You look like crap... do you have somewhere to stay here in the city?"

"Yeah, Mom's in London so I'm staying at her place tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to get everything sorted with Declan, I'll call you when I'm back in the city." Emily stood, she was too dirty for this place… she didn't deserve to be anywhere near here. As she was walking away Kate called out causing her to stop.

"Em… come stay with me when you get back to DC…" Emily glanced over her shoulder "The first weeks are the hardest and your gonna need a friend when you hit rock bottom."

Emily nodded once and kept walking.

Before she had even disappeared around the corner CJ was standing in front of Kate, furiously glaring.

"Do you want to tell me why at nearly midnight you're sitting in a dark abandoned corner of the White House grounds with the daughter of a US Ambassador, who last I heard was a translator for Interpol?"

Kate studied her friend… and smiled… CJ would understand and had clearance for the basics. Emily could do with a friend like CJ.

"Interpol translator? That's her current cover?" Kate grumbled. "Emily and I have been friends for over decade…" she starts "I was helping with an op in Cairo, she had originally been recruited for linguistics but… damn she could become anyone she needed to… That woman play's dumb tourist better than anyone I've ever met. We kept in touch but it was 2000 before we got a chance to work together again, we were in Columbia and she took a bullet for me. Literally pushed me to the ground. After that I left the agency but she went deeper…" Kate sighed "I promised her and myself… anywhere anytime if I could help I would. She wants out of the agency and I'm going to help her…"

CJ was smart enough to know there was so much more to the story than Kate was telling her, but her words weren't about a fellow agent... it was the sisterhood.

"Talk to Ron..." CJ smiled "He can probably fake a Secret Service assignment for her."

"Hmmm" Kate considered it "Maybe… but she wants FBI."

Four days later Kate arrived home late in the evening to find Emily sitting on her stoop seemingly fast asleep. Kate let her foot fall heavier causing Emily's eyes to pop open. Eyes that were bloodshot, dull and completely devoid of any life.

Not saying anything Kate grabbed her hand and hauled her upright, noting the wobble and sway. She wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion or vodka causing it. Most likely a combination of both. She got Emily upstairs and poured into a bed.

Kate isn't surprised that Emily has crawled into the bottle... she'd managed to get a copy of the reports on JTF-12 and the read wasn't pretty.

There were two ways this would end... Emily would eventually drag herself out of the bottle and start to function again or she'd put a bullet through her brain.

Kate has no idea which way she'll go.


	3. I go to my friends - Hetty Lange

Hetty Lange - NCIS: LA

"Some people go to priests, others to poetry, I to my friends" Virginia Woolf

July 2010

Emily made it a point to always know where Hetty Lange was... that is have a general idea as to her current geographic location.

There were two very specific reasons. The first was survival, Hetty is the most dangerous person she had ever met. Emily learned everything she knew about undercover espionage from the legendary operative, she had no doubt Hetty had passed on less than a fifth of her knowledge. If Hetty caught her unawares then she would never let Emily live it down.

Secondly if they were in the same area Emily would never give up the opportunity to have tea with her mentor.

The first time she'd ever met Hetty was Rome 1986, Emily was coming off the worst year of her very young life and Hetty had been assigned to her mother's staff for 6 months. She'd seen something only Hetty knew to look for in the 16 year old and decided to befriend her. It was many years later when she was coming off the Doyle assignment Hetty admitted she'd seen young Emily's potential and had watched the younger woman. Helping to provide opportunities for Emily to prove herself, made sure her name was whispered to the right people at the right time. Letting the younger woman choose her own path, but watching and protecting where she could.

Emily knew she wasn't the first nor the last person Hetty had done this for. There was a network all around the world of men and women who would kill and die for Hetty Lange.

Emily was proud to call herself one of them.

After they had finally tracked down Billy Flynn and rescued Elly Spicer, Hotch gave them a few hours while he finished clearing up some bureaucratic red tape, she slipped away from the station and down to the condemned building rumour told her the NCIS Special Projects unit worked out of.

Noting a tiny blindspot in the cameras she slipped through and sat against the outside wall at precisely the right angle for her feet to be picked up by two seperate camera's. Hopefully she'd managed to get her left foot sticking out the bottom right hand corner of one and her right foot sticking out the bottom left hand corner of another.

It took longer than anticipated before her personal burn phone rang.

"Agent Prentiss, I would greatly appreciate you not sending my security staff into fits."

"NCIS is a little slow Hetty" Emily smirked "I've been waiting nearly 30 minutes..."

"I'll give you slow young lady. The door's open..." the line went dead and Emily hauled herself up and round to the condemned sign. Taking a moment to admire the Charger parked there she wandered through the front door and down the hall.

Interestingly she got to the main bullpen before anyone questioned her presence. It really was true that if you walked like you belonged no one would question you.

"Can I help you?" a man, about her age, blue eyes short cropped hair asked.

"No thanks Callen." he blinked in confusion... who was she and how did she know his name.

Callen was a very good undercover operative... she was better. She'd pegged him as undercover the first time their paths crossed over 15 years earlier in Cairo. The CIA had loaned her to NATO CTU, she and one of their rookies were playing lost blond backpacker while tracking uranium shipments through the city.

It had taken years for her hair to recover from the peroxide.

 _"You have a fantastic pair of breasts... use them right and all anyone will remember is blond hair and cleavage"_

Emily had been gobsmacked by that particular piece of advice coming from Hetty but damn if the woman wasn't right. No one looked at her face when there was platinum blond hair and a pair of C cups to ogle.

Standing waiting for her was the woman herself... her diminutive stature filling the entire room.

"Really Emily... must you always make my security look bad?" Hetty glared.

"You'd like me less if I didn't" Emily grinned.

"This is true" Hetty looked her up and down "The Bureau has been good to you... tea?"

In the background Callen, Sam and Kensi watched the two women chatter away, until recognition hit Sam like a freight train.

"Why is a dead weapons dealer having tea with Hetty?"

"Emily... Emily..." Callen muttered under his breath still trying to connect the dots "Wait a second... weapons dealer?" he frowned at Sam.

"Yeah, Lauren something worked with Valhalla. They were both arrested 6 years back... she died in transit from Tuscany to Rome." Sam clarified.

"Really boys?" Kensi wanted to smack them in the back of the head "Dead weapons dealer that knows who Callen is and Hetty has tea with... probably one of the hundreds of agents Hetty has trained over the years."


	4. Share in my everything - Samantha Carter

WARNING - CANON CHARACTER DEATH

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Samantha Carter - Stargate: SG1

"I am treating you as my friend asking you share my present minuses in the hope I can ask you to share my future pluses." Katherine Mansfield

April 2011 - Paris, France

"Thank you"

The brunette stood and walked away from the cafe, ignoring pain in her side and the lump in her throat.

This was how it had to be now. She was doomed to living a half-life... a ghost and nothing more.

Emily Prentiss was dead.

She walked down Avenue du Marechal Gallieni, with sure and steady steps, head held high, years of practice allowing to be just another local on their way home.

It wasn't until she reached Pont Alexandre III that she looked inside the packet and as her new reality truly set in and she allowed the tears to fall. Stepping up to side of the bridge she turned to face the Seine, right arm resting on the stone railing clutching her new identity, left wrapped around her still healing wound.

She isn't sure how long she stands there forcing herself to simply breathe, to will Genevieve Marceau into existence when an unexpected presence appears by her side. Automatically on her guard the woman flickers her gaze to the left and sees a fairly unassuming man.

Medium build, brown hair, glasses. He's very carefully not looking at her but out over the river. Whoever he is, she can tell he's not agency or one of Doyle's. An agent would never approach her so openly less than an hour after she met with JJ and if he was one of Doyle's he wouldn't just be standing there. He would have put a bullet in her head and walked away.

Horny tourist looking for a good time?

No, wrong vibe, he wanted to talk... lonely tourist looking for a friend.

"C'est une belle soirÈe, n'est-ce pas?" _(It's a beautiful evening isn't it?)_ he turned his head slightly so she could see his bright blue eyes.

She copied his move and cocked her eyebrow slightly, trying not to shudder at his atrocious accent.

"Pas vraiment..." _(Not really...)._

He smiled "Sam a dit que tu me ferais travailler pour ça." _(Sam said you'd make me work for it.)_

"Qui?" _(Who?)_

Emily had known a number of Sam's throughout her life, so had Lauren... Genevieve didn't know any.

"Elle a aussi dit que tu avais raison à propos de Jonas, son complexe de Dieu était sa chute.." _(She also said you were right about Jonas, his God complex was his downfall.)_

She shrugged lazily and turned to lean back against the bridges barrier flashing back to a drunken night in DC while in between assignments for Interpol. The blond had wandered up to the pool table she'd been sitting by and Emily had nearly bounced with glee. The other woman played the girl card pretending to be a mediocre player at best but Emily could see the way she was assessing all the other players. The set of her shoulders was a little too relaxed and she held the pool cue too confidently. With a cocky grin and a wink at the blond Emily tossed $100.00 on edge of the pool table "End of the night, she walks away undefeated!"

Both Emily and Sam had cleaned up that night and sometime around 3 am they were eating pancakes in a greasy diner and talking about anything but their classified work. Over the next decade they kept in touch mostly via email and the occasional beer when they were both in DC which was rare.

Very few people knew about her friendship with Sam and none of them would have known about that particular observation Emily had made not long after her friends engagement broke up.

"Qu'est-ce que Sam a dit d'autre sur moi?" ( _What else did Sam say about me?_ )

"Even with proof you wouldn't trust him..."

How Sam managed to get so close without her hearing Emily didn't have the energy to figure out right then.

"You shouldn't be here..." All of a sudden a bone deep weariness washed over her and it was taking everything Emily had to keep herself upright...

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out the truth?" Sam asked as she slipped a supporting arm around her friends waist and started to guide her the rest of the way across the bridge.

"It's supposed to be classified" Emily grumbled more upset at the lack of cooperation from her body than her friend managing to track her down despite being dead.

"You think you're classified..." Sam snorted as they reached the car "Just you wait"

With Daniel's help she poured Emily into the back seat of the SUV and headed off towards the hotel they were staying at.

By the time they arrived Emily had managed to regain some of her equilibrium and was almost vibrating with curiosity. The beauty of a friend like Sam was that she understood classified in a way most people didn't. They knew the other couldn't talk about their work so beyond the generic 'how's everything going' they didn't ask.

It seemed Sam now knew a big chunk of Emily's classified and may even be planning on spilling some of her own.

Once Emily was settled on the lounge she took a moment to study the two sitting in front of her. Narrowing her eyes slightly at Sam's friend (who's name she hadn't managed to catch yet), there was something familiar about him but she couldn't quite pin it down. She reached out a hand to him.

"Emily Prentiss... or Genevieve Marceau... Depends on who you ask"

He smiled over the top of his glasses and took her hand gently in his "Daniel Jackson, nice to meet you."

She definitely knew that name... 3 am... a hotel lobby... desperate to read something not related to their current case she had picked up an old copy of an Archaeology magazine. She and Reid had ended up debating the merits of his theories on the way back to DC 4 days later.

"Oh..." she grinned maybe she could finally win that bet with Reid "hey, did you ever manage to find more evidence to back your cross polinisation theories? I've got 50 bucks riding on you having proof but no one being willing to publish it!"

"Ha!" Sam crowed from the kitchenette where she was getting drinks "You all owe me 20 each, I told you she would have heard of you."

Daniel's head dropped, what were the chances a FBI behavioural analyst knew his work.

Walking over to where they were sitting Sam handed Daniel a beer and Emily water before settling herself on the couch.

"Here's the deal" Sam moved onto the real reason they had tracked Emily down.

"Over a year ago Daniel and I submitted a proposal to bring a behavioural analyst onto the project we work on. Someone who can not only read, interpret and predict behaviour but also teach others how to do it. We finally got the go ahead to bring someone in when I got word of your funeral, Colonel O'Neill was visiting a friend in Bethesda while I was there and recognised you so we went digging and found your cover. Your friends Hetty and Kate were quite helpful in getting everything sorted to bring you in."

"I was still unconscious and under armed guard when they had the funeral" Emily looked at them suspiciously "and why would deep space radar telemetry need an archaeologist let alone and behaviouralist?"

"That's... a very long story that we can't tell you until you sign on to the project." Daniel squinted up at her.

Emily eyed him carefully noting the way he maintained eye contact while keeping his elbows on his knees, shoulders slightly hunched. He was comfortable in his own body and confident in his knowledge and intellect. He was someone who was used to people attempting to intimidate and bully him using either their body or voice and would have his own coping mechanisms in place to avoid giving in to that kind of behaviour. Gentle cajoling might work, on the other hand he struck her as the type of man who would respond to curiosity more than anything, and he wanted to share his knowledge with anyone who would listen.

She didn't say anything, merely tilted her head to the side slightly and raised an eyebrow, a classic 'I'm listening' pose.

She could wait him out.

Sam watched the silent exchange, this would be an interesting preview of how everyone else would react to Emily. She should not be looking forward to the first meeting between Emily, the Colonel and Teal'c so much.

As expected Daniel was unable to abide unfulfilled curiosity and after several seconds of Emily sitting there expectantly his head snapped up and hands went into the air as he went into lecturer mode.

"You see…"

"Daniel!" Sam interrupted sharply before he could get going. The Archaeologist turned to Sam confused about the interruption for a moment before turning back to Emily.

"Oh you're good" Daniel shook his head at how quickly and easily he'd been played.

"You do know why I'm here under an assumed identity?" Emily's eyes darted between the two.

"Yes we do" Sam assured her "No one will be looking for you in Colorado Springs and the base is secure. No one will question your identity and we can easily protect you and if it comes down to it we can hide you in ways that would make WitSec cry."

"I'll get full disclosure? Access to everything I need to design and run this behavioural analysis program you need?" Emily confirmed.

"Yes" Sam and Daniel spoke at the same time.

"I'm in"

* * *

Emily's head was spinning. What the hell made her think that this was a good idea? She was going to smack Sam for bringing her into this.

She was sitting who knew how many levels beneath Cheyenne Mountain staring dumbfounded at the General seated at the head of the table who had just given her a brief on the project Sam worked on.

A stone ring that created a wormhole to other planets, aliens... one of which was apparently sitting in front of her.

"You see..." Daniel started, only to stop abruptly as Emily's hand flew up palm outwards to silence him.

He looked sideways at Sam, hoping for some indication as to what Emily was going to do or say next. The Major could only shrug, she could predict physics not people, The Colonel had the biggest chance of reading Emily. A quick glance at the man in question and Sam could see he had no idea either.

Emily sat forward and pulled the abridged version of the SGC that Sam and Daniel had put together towards her. She opened the file to the first page and started reading.

Every time someone started to speak Emily's hand flew up again to halt them as she read.

This went on for several minutes as Emily read through the basics of how the program got started as well as Jack, Sam and Daniel's part in it, she was sure she would get to Teal'c, General Hammond and Doctor Fraiser eventually. Leaning back in her chair her eyes met General Hammonds.

"I was promised full access to everything?" She questioned.

"And you've got it. We've set up an office for you on the same level as Dr Jackson." General Hammond assured her.

"I..." Emily paused to gather her thoughts "have a lot of catching up to do. Let me get through the reports and then I'll come and ask any questions I have."

"That's it?" The Colonel couldn't hide his surprise at her reaction. "No gnashing of teeth no wailing over how it can't be true... Just let me catch up?"

"Colonel, I'm legally dead and in hiding from an International Terrorist and Weapons dealer I don't have the time or energy to wail or gnash. I believe what I've just been told because Sam and Daniel are shit liars, they use big words hoping whoever they're lying to will be so discombobulated that they won't notice the whopper they're being told. You're a very good liar but only when you need to be, which is not in this room and with these people. The General hedges the topic so that he doesn't have to lie, same with Doctor Fraiser as for your…" she waved her hand helplessly at Tea'lc "friend I'm betting he sits in silence neither lying nor telling the truth."

While not hysterical there was an edge to Emily's voice. She needed time, space, information and chocolate.

As she sat there chewing on her lower lip everyone slid another $10.00 over to Sam.

* * *

It took Emily a week to get through all of the mission reports. In that time she made friends with Harriman and Siler the two men stopping by her office regularly to make sure she had everything she needed. Emily learned quickly that they could get their hands on just about anything she needed, including several whiteboards and all the stationary she would ever need.

A few hours into her reading she found her way to Sam's lab and requested an Astrophysics for dummies text, early the next morning she asked Daniel for an English to Goa'uld dictionary.

That afternoon Daniel wandered in to check on her progress and was surprised to discover Emily standing between three white boards. The first had a working timeline of the programme, he winced as he saw her write a note in the timeline marking their trip to Nassya and Sam's subsequent blending with Jolinar. The second board contained a similar timeline but focussed on their contact with various Goa'uld, their language, culture and hierarchy. The third time lined the scientific discoveries they made, he noted that all three had post-it's with questions marked at various points.

They were good questions, smart questions.

He cleared his throat to her Emily's attention as she dropped a file into one of several piles scattered on the bench.

"Chel hol Dr Jackson" Emily smiled over her shoulder at him. Her pronunciation was off but his eyes lit up at her correct use of the Goa'uld greeting.

"Chel hol Emily." he walked up to her Goa'uld board and studied the information she'd deemed important enough to note absently filing away her repeating the correct pronunciation under her breath and making a note next to the word.

"You're going to need more boards."

"I've got Walter and Siler hunting them down for me." She grinned "Worse comes to worse I can clear off the walls and use those. Siler offered to build me one but Walter turned the strangest shade of green…"

"Ahh yeah… don't let Siler build you anything. I can answer the questions you have so far" Daniel offered

"No thanks" Emily declined "I'm guessing a lot of the answers will be further along in the reports and I don't want your opinions to colour my own conclusions." Seeing his slightly puzzled look she continued.

"It's a standard investigative technique, we get as much information as possible first hand before asking the local investigators for their conclusions. Now that isn't possible here but the files all have multiple perspectives, from a behavioural point it will give me a good starting point."

"Ahh" He nodded in understanding. "Makes sense..."

They chatted for a while, Emily skillfully keeping the conversation to topics that had been covered in the files she had already read.

Day 3 saw Janet Fraiser dragging her to the infirmary for a battery of tests and a check up on her still healing wounds. The physician clucked over the angry red scar tissue and the still healing muscles and internal organs before laying down a brutal diet and physical therapy routine commenting that she wouldn't allow anyone to think Emily got second rate care in her infirmary.

Emily also learned the Doctor was intelligent, well read and had a hilariously dry sense of humour so when Sam went off world on Emily's fourth day in the mountain she had someone who was easy and fun to talk to.

Within 6 weeks Emily was healed enough to pass the physical for gate travel and she finished a basic first contact program for the teams. Wanting to see how well it worked in the field Emily took SG-7 and 9 through the training and proceeded to go off world on a first contact mission with them.

With the personal experience under her belt she started to tweak the program to better deal with what the teams were faced with... especially when there were language barrier issues.

One problem she hadn't managed so solve yet was how do you use human behavioural techniques on non-humanoid aliens.

She shelved everything but first contact and managed to talk the general into letting her do a tour of friendly planets with SG-9.

8 weeks and 25 planets later Emily was much more comfortable with the plan she had in mind for the first contact teams and the diplomatic corps. SG-9 were easy, they were the diplomats and already had rigorous training in well… people. It was the military shoot first question later she was trying to teach out of a chunk of the teams.

Ironically the hard scientists were worse to work with, simply because they didn't care. They had their theories and experiments and they didn't want to worry about people.

Emily quickly gained a reputation for being a nag. Daniel's department loved her and Sam's hated her.

Girls nights with Sam and Janet were fun and relaxing but nothing like going out with JJ and Garcia. Both the other women were sensitive enough to not bring up the friends Emily had left behind.

She was off world with SG-9 when the call came in from Tom... The six hour hike back to the gate left her with no nails... and lucky for her the Prometheus was in orbit and she was quickly beamed to a public toilet in a park near the Pentagon where Paul Davis was waiting to drive her to Quantico.

When all was said and done Declan was safe, Doyle and Donaghy dead and she was free to come back to her life.

She had been standing at the memorial wall staring at her own photo as the team slowly joined her. Then Strauss had walked up to give them the news.

"There may be more paperwork considering your situation, but the team is lucky to have you... if you're interested?"

Emily could never resist being a smart arse "May I think about it?"

"Of course..." she didn't think she'd ever seen Erin Strauss this surprised.

Emily turned and regarded her team... it would take time to but they would get there.

"Officially I've been on loan to the JCS consulting on a military project... all the paperwork will be sent over by close of business" Emily grinned "I'm in..."

They seemed to ignore the first part of her statement and focus on the second... except for Rossi who looked at her suspiciously before wrapping her in his arms "Welcome back... we'll talk later" he whispered.

"I missed you guys so much" she whispered back.

"Agent Prentiss!" a voice only Emily recognised called out to the group. Turning they all saw Paul Davis standing there looking uncomfortably apologetic.

Throwing a glare his way, knowing immediately she was going to hate what he had to say Emily stayed with her team hoping he would get the hint.

"Major Davis..." the entire team picked up on the iciness in her tone as she glared at the officer.

"I'm so sorry..." he starts "but you're needed back on base tonight. The disclosure project has been approved and phase 1 starts in 72 hours."

Normally Emily wouldn't let her distress at the news show in such a public place but the last 48 hours had been exhausting and she hadn't slept since leaving P9X-384 and to top that off with the emotionally charged reunion with the team she couldn't control the slump of her shoulders or the tears of disappointment that sprang to her eyes. Emily knew this was a fight she couldn't win but she was going to try anyway.

"No" her voice cracked with the refusal "The General and I had an agreement. Anything I need to do I do from Quantico. I don't need to be there for this. I need to be here..."

It was a lie... the General wanted her monitoring Bregman from start to finish, Colonel Rundell was good but Emily was better. They'd known this was coming but hadn't anticipated the Doyle situation being resolved before hand.

"Emily...?" Rossi was the first of the team to find his voice.

"I've been helping the Air Force with some Behavioural Analysis training. They found me in Paris and invited me in." she admitted "All the prep work is done and the agreement is 6 months from now I go back to make sure everything is running fine and monitor everything else from here. Be available for a weekly dial in and to answer questions via email." her eyes snap to Paul's her anger at Hammond leeching over to him "Tell the General I'm not available"

"He knows and he tried" Paul felt for her... he really did "He said you weren't needed but was overridden."

Emily let her eyes slide shut as she read between the lines... Presidential order. She needed time with her team, her family.

"I can buy you a couple of hours..." Paul relented "I'll get you on the 8pm hop"

JJ and Hotch would understand and be ok with her disappearing for another week or so. Garcia would come around as long as Emily was contactable the same with Rossi. Spencer was hurting too much at the lie to accept her leaving again, Morgan's anger would be taken out on the rest of the team until they had a chance to clear the air.

Emily nodded her acceptance chin quivering as Paul walked away.

"Your survival was classified eyes only" JJ stared at her confused "How did the Air Force know where to find you and why wasn't I notified?"

"Your clearance isn't high enough..." talk about throwing fuel on the fire "The only other person in the Bureau who has been read into the project is the Director and Paul is probably briefing him now on my involvement." Emily let her eyes drift over her friends "I don't know about you guys but I'm starving."

It was early in the afternoon but knowing their time with Emily was limited the team headed off for a meal. When Paul arrived to pick her up just before 7 Emily quickly wrote down three numbers and handed them to Hotch.

"My current cell and landline and the third is Walter... one of the base support staff. If I don't answer call him and he'll know where I am."

3 Day's later she's watching Emmet Bregman through the camera's, watching and listening to everything he's saying and doing to the rest of the staff. He's pushy and opinionated and comes very close to the line several times.

She's not a soldier but she's qualified enough to assist on a rescue mission and doesn't hesitate to suit up and go through to gate to help rescue SG-13. She's essentially a pack mule for the medics and follows Janet and Daniel through the fire fight to find Well's lying on the cold ground, scared and bleeding. She's kneeling next to Janet... her friend... when a stray staff bolt skims past her face and into Janet. Once the shock has passed her eyes meet Daniels and without a word they haul Janet and Wells up and make for the gate.

Emily arrives back on earth from P3X-666 burns marking her face from the plasma… eyelashes singed off and her dead friend slung over her shoulder.

Two weeks after the disclosure and the night Emmett Bregmans documentary airs she's just been reinstated as Unit Chief. Emily never told the team she had a 2 star General pressuring Barnes to reverse her decision. The Senator is simply the final nail in her coffin.

As promised Bregman never used the footage from Daniel's camera but he somehow managed to get a still shot from the security cameras of Emily returning with Janet's body. The images are terrifying... and so symbolic of the SGC as a whole.

Her phone rings constantly for nearly an hour as one by one the team tries to get an explanation.

Emily isn't surprised when they start banging on her door, she's even less surprised when JJ uses her key to let them all in.

Spencer studies her intently before pulling $50.00 out of his pocket and handing it over.


	5. A kindred spirit - Eve Baird

Eve Baird - The Librarians

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.", L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

October 2016

David Rossi crouched down next to what appeared to be the most recent victim of a serial killer they had been tracking.

The first murder had been in Able Colorado 8 months before and they were slowly working their way along the Arkansas River.

8 Victims, all killed on the first of the month and dumped by the River. They'd arrived in Pine Bluff Arkansas less than an hour before, the jet dropping Emily, JJ, Luke and himself off leaving Reid and Tara in Quantico.

As with all of their previous victims there was no immediate cause of death. The coroner's findings would point to hypothermia.

Out of the corner of his eye a flash of red caught his attention.

Pulling out his cell he sent a text to Luke and JJ.

 **'The groupies are back'**

They'd first noticed the four of them back in Syracuse, Kansas. Watching from afar and every time one of the team tried to talk to them they took off and disappeared.

Another flash, this time blond... so it was the two women watching them. He, JJ and Luke quickly co-ordinated via text. Rossi heading over to the Tahoe to try and cut of their escape while Luke and JJ chased them towards him.

15 minutes later the redhead had escaped and they had the blond in custody.

Their current working theory was one of the men was the killer and controlled the other three... although.

This woman wasn't a follower. She was an alpha... could she be the killer and the others worked for her?

"My name is Colonel Eve Baird, NATO Counter Terrorism." She claimed as Luke cuffed her and patted her down, confiscating her gun.

"And why would CTU be following a serial killer through the US?" Rossi shot back as they shoved her in the back of the Tahoe.

20 minutes later she was cuffed to the table in the interrogation room while Rossi filled Emily in. It would take an Alpha female to break another Alpha female.

"Did you say Eve Baird?" Emily asked incredulously.

"Wait.. you know her?" Rossi really shouldn't be surprised, Emily Prentiss had more 'friends' and 'contacts' than a mafia don.

"I know someone in NATO by that name... whether it's her or not..." It had been 20 years...

She joined JJ and Luke in the observation room and looked through the one way mirror.

"That's her..." she confirmed "Huh...?" and headed into the room.

Looking up at the new comer Eve couldn't keep the shock off her face.

"Wait..." the Colonel sat up straighter "I thought you left Fumble, Bumble and Incompetence?"

"Eh, I came back and at least I'm still not stuck with No Action Talk Only." Emily retorted.

"Fair call… and you were smart enough to leave Couldn't Identify Arseholes." Eve smiled.

"Very true..." Emily smiled back.

Outside the room Luke was very confused, he knew Emily came from Interpol and he'd heard a rumour or two about her work history but didn't put much weight on it... he looked at Rossi.

"What...?" he wasn't even sure what question to ask and whipped his head back and forth as JJ and Rossi had a silent conversation.

"Emily didn't join the Bureau until early 2005." JJ hedged "Most of her career is...? she shrugged unsure of exactly how to explain.

"If she told you she'd have to shoot you?" Luke cringed at the imagery as he said it.

"That works" Rossi agreed "We generally don't question how she knows the people she does."

"It's been awhile... I haven't seen you since that thing back then and the last I heard you went a little cuckoo and claimed a librarian helped to disable a nuclear weapon while stopping demons from being released? That's a little out there even for NATO."

"You're still calling 6 weeks playing dumb blond American in Cairo 'that thing back then'?" Eve shakes her head, Emily always did have a penchant for dramatic understatement.

"Hey... at least you never had to spend the night in an ER pretending you were a foreign tourist with only enough english to say bathroom and time…"

"That was you?" Eve laughed "Rumour has it the doctors spent two hours picking shrapnel out of your ass while you pretended to only speak French and Spanish?"

"Closer to four actually, I walked funny for weeks." Emily confirmed, stories like that one had a habit of making their way around the intelligence community. Studying her old friend carefully, Emily tried to decide how to handle this. "Eve... what are you doing here. This isn't of any interest to NATO and I know you haven't been with a unit for nearly four years."

Eve trusts Emily, but not necessarily with this and definitely not the people watching through the mirror.

"You guys are BAU right?" Emily nods "How specialised is it, best of the best and 99.9% of agents simply aren't cut out for what you do." Eve hopes making this connection will get them off her tail long enough to get back to the annex before her librarians do something stupid like send Jenkins in... or worse call Flynn.

"My team… makes your guys look like the dumbest shmuks out there. You hunt down the worst of humanity, we make sure humanity is there for you to do that."

"I resent being called dumb" Rossi muttered outside the room

"And resemble a shmuck?" JJ shot back

"Tell me." Emily presses knowing Eve wouldn't budge but trying anyway.

"No"

"Come on Eve... you've gotta give me something" Emily wheedled.

Rolling her eyes up to the ceiling Eve considered the best way to get Emily off her and by default her teams back. Of all the people running this investigation it had to be Emily Fucking Prentiss. The phrase dogs and bones came to mind.

"Is it just me or is this kinda like watching Emily talking to a blonde Emily?" JJ asked no one in particular.

Heaving a sigh Eve finally gave Emily something causing the brunettes eyebrows to shoot towards her hairline.

"Dirty Old Skanks Association" Eve finally told her.

"Really?" Emily chewed on her bottom lip as she considered her options. "I've heard rumours about them... Hetty thinks... and I agree it's all a smoke screen for something else..." Emily pauses as a report from a few years ago crosses her mind. "They have anything to do with a break in at the Vatican a few years ago? I got a report that no one could ever make sense of, they made a tentative ID on one of the men but it was dropped... what was the name...?"

Eve closed her eyes in weary acceptance. He couldn't just blend in.

"I'll tell you what you want to know… but not here"

"Damn there's got to be a good story behind the look on your face" Emily laughed before standing and taking the handcuffs off Eve "lets go get coffee."

* * *

Fumble, Bumble and Incompetence = FBI

No Action Talk Only = NATO

Couldn't Identify Arseholes = CIA

Dirty Old Skanks Association = DOSA (The Librarians Season 3 "Department of Statistical Anomalies)


End file.
